Kids need to get out in nature. Breathing in fresh air and just taking a walk in the woods can reduce stress, improve moods, and make your kids and you healthier. The Fox family is always looking for fun activities and stuff we can do as a family in nature. Whether we are camping, hiking, or biking, we don’t care as long as we are outside and teaching our daughter to love nature the same way we do.
That is how we stumbled upon this amazing subscription service called Think Outside. The THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES are amazing. Each one is but around a theme such as first aid, fire, water, wildlife, shelter, and more. You can buy just one box for a flat fee or subscribe to them for an incremental discount depending on how many months you subscribe for. What’s more, their website is loaded with lots of free resources for homeschooling families or people who just want to find stuff for their kids to do outside.
So far, the Fox family has received about 3 months of activities that have led us to embark on an adventure almost every week trying to do one of the activities that are outlined in books and resource cards that come in the Think Outside Boxes. Our daughter went from a kid who had to be bribed with marshmallows to sit around a campfire to a child who thrills in setting up a fire and campsite. She can even use good old-fashioned flint and steel to start her own fire.
It’s Educational
These days many parents are hurting to supplement the poor educational activities that are found in our local schools. If your school is even open, you still might have to supplement the learning provided with your own activities and classes. THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES are a great resource filled with fun STEM-related activities that educate as well as instill a love of the outdoors and nature.
From simple science experiments to learning Morse code, your child will be given tasks that are both fun and educational. They will learn about topics that might be briefly covered in a normal school curriculum, but they will see real-world uses for the education they are getting.
Survival Skills
As a former military officer, I am thankful that even if the world melted down right now, I could survive and keep my family alive in the wild. Hopefully, I will never have to do that, but it is reassuring knowing that I have those skills that can’t be taken away from me. As my daughter learns what to do in the event of an emergency, I am even more reassured.
These are just some skills my daughter has gained:
- How to build a simple shelter
- How to build a fire
- Different ways of signaling for help
- What to do in the case of a fire at home
- How to tie knots
- Morse Code
And we are just getting started! The cold winter days and inhospitable weather kept the Fox family inside a few weekends, but these educational boxes got us to venture outside on days we would have rather stayed inside. And the cool thing is that even though it was cold and windy, my daughter enjoyed herself and was learning without even realizing it.
Cool Gadgets for Kids and Parents
Mr. Fox has started to eagerly anticipate each box to find out what cool stuff might be in it. So far, my favorite was the solar-powered lantern. The pocket saw pictured above was a close second. If you are like me, you will find that the high-quality items provided in each box are really surprising given the relatively low price of the box as a whole.
In addition to the items, you will get activities and reading material that will spur your young one into action. All the items in the box are related to whatever the theme for the month is. They also include resource cards that you can easily bring along with you on a hike or a camping trip.
Great for Homeschoolers
Before COVID struck, the Fox family was not that big into homeschooling. Mr. Fox has to work, and it was hard to break down the teaching between Mr. and Mrs. Fox and get everything else done. After one summer of teaching our child at home, her math skills had skyrocketed, and her reading is now 3 grades ahead of what it was before. We realized that we needed to keep this up even if things returned to normal.
Think Outside boxes were created by families just like ourselves who were looking for ways to teach and have fun while enjoying nature. Mr. Fox had the good luck to be involved in a very long chat with one of the founders. After that conversation, we were sold. The great thing is that you don’t have to buy a box to benefit from some materials provided on their site. You can find lesson plans and other links right on their site that are helpful if you have a box but are also great if you just want to explore what they are about.
Have an Adventure with Think Outside
The Fox family will have to say that there are really no cons that we can think of. The price is no more than one of the textbooks that we buy our child for school, and the boxes are loads more entertaining and useful. At first, it was just the little Fox child that was excited because she knew that her Think Outside box was coming soon. These days, Mother and Father Fox crowd around to see what is next on our monthly adventure course.
We highly recommend this useful tool for homeschoolers, parents, kids, and adventurous grandparents as well. They have won multiple awards from mother groups and parent organizations, and the list of satisfied parents continues to grow with each new box they send out. Try out your own box and let the Fox family know what you think about it in the comment section below.
